EXCLUSIVE: A VICTIM of killer paedophiles Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan yesterday told how the pair threatened to murder his mum if he told about his rape ordeal.

A VICTIM of killer paedophiles Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan yesterday told how the pair threatened to murder his mum if he told about his rape ordeal.

Chris Hunter bravely waived his right to anonymity to expose how the evil pair secured his silence after sexually abusing him for five years.

Chris, now 29, was just 12 when he was held captive in a small cupboard by the fiends who took turns to rape him.

His torture at the hands of Allison McGarrigle's killers began in 1993, when O'Neill himself was still a teenager.

It continued until 1998 when the pair were imprisoned for a combined total of 14 years for abusing Chris and three other boys.

But when they were released, they targeted Chris again and kept him prisoner for more than nine months in Spain.

Chris - who contracted deadly Hepatitis B as a result of the abuse - told police about their activities after he escaped in 2005.

It started a chain of events which led to them being sentenced to a total of 56 years for the murder of would-be whistleblower Allison McGarrigle.

Chris, originally from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, said: "When I was 12 they told me they would kill my mother and the rest of my family and make me watch, if I ever told them or the police.

"I knew then, even as a young innocent boy, that they would carry out the threat.

"What they did to Allison McGarrigle proved that they are capable of murder. They killed her because they thought she was about to expose them.

"I am sure they would have issued the same threat to all the other boys they abused and who would have been just as scared as me.

"That's why they got away with what they did for so many years.

"Over the years, they repeated the threats to me about my mother and family but I never forgot the first time they said they would kill them and make me watch.

"It was a terrible thing for a 12-year-old to hear.

"Even now I am still terrified they will come after me for revenge and do what they promised to do all those years ago.

"Though they are doing life in prison, they have people on the outside who will do things for them.

"In prison they will be the king of the beasts and run the show in the protection wings. They will be among the few sex offenders who could go into prison and not fear anyone.

"They are also both very intelligent and manipulative which makes them even more terrifying.

"I don't think that I will ever feel safe from them."

O'Neill and Lauchlan were convicted last month of sexual abuse charges relating to a 15-year-old boy in Spain and a six-year-old boy in Scotland.

O'Neill was also convicted of abusing a boy aged 14 in Irvine.

After the pair were convicted of killing Allison, 39, and dumping her body at sea, O'Neill, 47, was told that he must serve at least 30 years in prison. Lauchlan, 33, was given a minimum of 26 years.

Chris, who now lives in Ayrshire, was first introduced to Lauchlan by a school friend.

He said: "I went to their flat in Rothesay at lunchtime and they would prepare me a meal.

"But when I went to their flat at night, they would lock me in a small cupboard and take turns to abuse me. A lot of the time I think I was drugged up.

"If anyone called at the flat when they were abusing me they would tell me to stay in the cupboard."

Chris says the pair often targeted children of respectable parents who they befriended under the guise of running boxing and football clubs.

He felt he was getting his life back together in 2004 but was then contacted by O'Neill - by then released from prison.

He made Chris drive him to Spain - a trip lasting three days - where he was reunited with Lauchlan.

Chris said: "I did it because I was so scared of O'Neill. Again, he threatened me with violence against my family if I did not do what he said.

"They kept me locked in a mobile home - a revamped bus - and only let me out when it suited them.

"They both found work in local bars in the Calle De Londres district of Benidorm.

"One of the bars was opposite the mobile home, so they could always keep an eye on me.

"The only food I ever ate was what they kept on the bus. They held me prisoner for about nine months and I only escaped when I managed to steal back my passport which they had confiscated and kept in a safe on the bus.

"I then sold a pair of trainers and my watch to buy a ticket back to Britain.

"They sexually abused me while in Spain but they were never charged because it was only my word.

"Once I returned to Britain, I told the police that they were in Spain.

"Both had gone there without telling the authorities.

"That started the chain of events that led to them being extradited back to Britain and eventually being convicted last week.

"Neither of my parents could believe what had happened to me."

Chris's dad - PR consultant Norrie - said: "Neither his mother nor I had any inkling what was happening to our son and the threats these people had made about us.

"However, the fact that they murdered Allison McGarrigle for threatening to go to the police proved they were as good as their word. They were not empty threats.

"There is no doubt in my mind that had Chris told the police when the abuse started, they would have killed him."